In today's automotive market there exist a variety of propulsion or drive technologies used to power vehicles. The technologies include internal combustion engines (ICEs), electric drive systems utilizing batteries and/or fuel cells as an energy source, and hybrid systems utilizing a combination of internal combustion engines and electric drive systems. The propulsion systems each have specific technological, financial, and performance advantages and disadvantages, depending on the state of energy prices, energy infrastructure developments, environmental laws, and government incentives.
The increasing demand to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions in present vehicles has led to the development of advanced hybrid vehicles. Hybrid vehicles are classified as vehicles having at least two separate power sources, typically an internal combustion engine and an electric traction motor. Hybrid vehicles, as compared to standard vehicles driven by an ICE, have improved fuel economy and reduced emissions. During varying driving conditions hybrid vehicles will alternate between separate power sources, depending on the most efficient manner of operation of each power source. For example, a hybrid vehicle equipped with an ICE and an electric motor will shut down the ICE during a stopped or idle condition, allowing the electric motor to propel the vehicle and eventually restart the ICE, improving fuel economy for the hybrid vehicle.
Hybrid vehicles are broadly classified into series or parallel drivetrains, depending upon the configuration of the drivetrains. In a series drivetrain utilizing an ICE and an electric traction motor, only the electric motor drives the wheels of a vehicle. The ICE converts a fuel source to mechanical energy to turn a generator which converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy to drive the electric motor. In a parallel hybrid drivetrain system, two power sources such as an ICE and an electric traction motor operate in parallel to propel a vehicle. Generally, a hybrid vehicle having a parallel drivetrain combines the power and range advantages of a conventional ICE with the efficiency and electrical regeneration capability of an electric motor to increase fuel economy and lower emissions, as compared with a traditional ICE vehicle.